HC Deb 24 October 1989 vol 158 c428W
Mr. Butler

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether non-provocative defence is studied at the service colleges.

46. Mr. Knapman

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether non-provocative defence is studied at the service colleges.

38. Mr. Fishburn

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much time is allocated in the service colleges to defence studies.

25. Mr. Amess

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence to what extent NATO's strategy of flexible response is studied at the service colleges.

Mr. Archie Hamilton

I assume that my hon. Friends are referring to the Royal College of Defence Studies, the Joint Service Defence College and the three single-service staff colleges. Their syllabuses are concerned with matters relating to defence, including the strategic political, economic and social factors that bear upon it. It is appropriate that considerable emphasis is placed upon study of the United Kingdom's and NATO's defence policies, including the strategy of flexible response which underpins those policies, but students are also given an insight into alternative policies and strategies. There is insufficient time, however, for the detailed study of specific alternatives such as so-called non-provocative defence.